The school that started with three students

Thanks to Dubai, Durairaj and Premalatha Rani have fulfilled their dream of developing a public school in Dubai and starting a school in India. The Buds Public School which they founded is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
"Even if we go back to India with our new school project, we will continue to be in love with Dubai and our students, parents and teachers here,' the couple said.
M Durairaj, who is in his mid-sixties, is a Mathematics teacher from Nagercoil in India. He wanted to start a school in his hometown in India when he was quite young, but his father, a shrewd contractor, told him to gain some experience before starting a business. He did not want his young son to lose money.
"It was always my ambition to start a school back home. When I was young, my father did not allow me to start a new school without experience. Now I have got rich experience from the international city like Dubai and Nigeria. We are investing Indian Rs 50 crores for a new ICSE school in Coimbatore," Durairaj said.
While many villa schools had to close down, Durairaj and his wife managed to run the school successfully for three decades. Compared to the big international network of Indian schools from Dubai, Buds Public School, may not be a very big brand name. But the Indian couple from Nagercoil is content with the 900 students from various parts of India and a state-of-the-art campus. Their son Joshua and daughter Judisha have taken over the reins.
 
The couple's two children were enrolled in more prestigious international schools. "It was a well calculated move by my mathematics parents to start and run a public school in Dubai. Now I am looking after the school and my sister is the administration manager and head of the students' council," his son Joshua said. A mechanical engineer, he runs his own construction company, which develops infrastructure for the Buds Public School.
After completing his first standard in Buds school, he was moved to another international school because his parents wanted him to get a western education. "Now our plans are towards expanding the schools, setting up a flagship school in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, for which approvals and drawings are completed," Joshua said.
Facts
Initial funding: Rs 45,000 (from salary in Nigeria)
Year of starting: 1987
Classes offered initially: KG to third standard in a rented four-bedroom villa, behind the old Emirates Airlines building, in Port Saeed. There were 6 to 8 teachers. A minibus was the only vehicle the school had.
CBSE affiliation: 1996
Recession of 2008: Only 300 students in the school
Current principal: Ainsley Edgar, a recipient of the National Award from the Government of India. He has thirty years of experience working in schools.
Number of students: 900
Staff (Teaching and non-teaching): 90
Capacity: 2000 students
Present campus: 100,000 square feet of land and a built-up facility of 50,000 square feet.
2014-15: A Dh 15 million expansion.
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